This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Vehicles conventionally have an internal body structure including a pair of rails extending longitudinally along the front of the vehicle and on opposite sides of the vehicle's power plant (e.g. engine). A bumper typically extends along the front of the vehicle, between the two rails. The rails typically support the power plant and any number of vehicle components or body panels. The bumper and rails are conventionally designed to absorb some of the forces that can occur during an impact event by deforming. The degree and location of such deformation can determine the trajectory of the vehicle during and after the impact event, and can influence the forces experienced by vehicle occupants. One type of impact event is known as a narrow offset impact (i.e., the IIHS small overlap crash test) where only the outer 25% of the vehicle's width is impacted by a rigid object (e.g., a barrier, wall, or vehicle) during the impact event. Another type of impact event is known as a flat frontal impact where the entire front of the vehicle impacts a flat, rigid object (e.g., a barrier, wall, or vehicle) during the impact event. Yet another type of impact event is known as a frontal oblique impact event where a movable, deformable object (e.g., a movable deformable barrier, or a vehicle) impacts the front corner of the vehicle at an angle relative to the vehicle.